Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I’m soon deciding which ¼” plywood (for inside teardrop) I will laminate to my ½” Baltic Birch plywood to give me ¾” walls.
With teardrops it seems wise to be creating moisture barriers and always making everything as waterproof as possible. So with that in mind, how have you or how would you suggest laminating the two pieces together and what glue would be best to use???

Thanks, Martha

Martha,

I like Titebond III

http://www.titebond.com/WNTitebondIIITB.asp

Mike...

I'd have to 2nd the TiteBondIII for the lamination, buy it by the gallon and trowel it on for 100% coverage. Do you have your walls built yet? If not, you could do 3/4 w/ 1/8 interior skin for a very pretty finish (oak, birch, mahogany, take your pick) as opposed to AC or AB 1/4" ply and it'd be cheaper... have you priced AB ply?...anyway... that'd give you a thickness of about 31/32, then you could laminate w/ waterproof contact cement.

one word of advise...when glueing up large sheets w/ lots of "white type" glue they have a tendency to "warp", I usually lay 2x4's on all the sheets and park my Jeep on them for a week and even then, it can still happen.

I'm now a big fan of Titebond 111.

Barb

martha24 wrote:I’m soon deciding which ¼” plywood (for inside teardrop) I will laminate to my ½” Baltic Birch plywood to give me ¾” walls.
With teardrops it seems wise to be creating moisture barriers and always making everything as waterproof as possible. So with that in mind, how have you or how would you suggest laminating the two pieces together and what glue would be best to use???

Thanks, Martha

Martha,

You mentioned "waterproof". If you want waterproof, epoxy is great for laminating sheets together and preventing water from getting into plywood. I used it on all my plywood end grain and the backs of all my plywood sheets not only to laminate them together but to make them waterproof. Now that would make them "as waterproof as possible" after all they make plywood boats with epoxy, not Titebond III. Just another perspective. But.... Titebond III will give waterproof joinery.... and it is the best white glue around.

For want it is worth, I don't think waterproof is an issue here...if water gets to that glue layer (and it shouldn't), something really bad has happened and the glue is the least of your worries. If you decide to use a regular wood glue, and there is a big difference in the price of Titebond III and plain old Elmers yellow carpenter's glue, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the cheap stuff for this application unless it is for your own piece of mind.

I used epoxy thickened with mircofibers. Though I used Titebond II on the interior panels.

A few tips:

Work fast, once you spread out the glue it stes up faster

Put a staple or screw in one or two places, it prevents the panels from squirming when you put your weights on.

Thanks everyone for posting.
We should be getting some 1/4" plywood this weekend. It will be my husband's choice as to which method he uses to laminate them. I'm the information gatherer.
Once he is done with the dry fitting, then I get to stain and finish the inside wood. And once we really start putting it together, then I'll post some more.

Martha